The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore definitely lives up to the reputation of the Ritz-Carlton chain. It is one of the best hotels in Singapore, although now that it is a few years old, may not be one of the best in Asia anymore.

The public areas are, in a word, fabulous. From the Dale Chihuly glass piece in the reception/lobby bar area, to the pool area, the hotel is a work of modern art. But just like other Ritz-Carltons, expect to wear nice clothes if you intend to hang around those areas. This can be a little odd, if you are in Singapore for a weekend on vacation, since Singapore lends itself to shorts and flower-print shirts. The concierge and reception service was very helpful, although a bit standoffish, possibly because we weren't dressed in suits.

The rooms a main attraction of this hotel. We had what had to be one of the cheapest rooms, with a cheapo corporate rate, and I can only imagine that the rooms got more spectacular as you paid more. The room was about 15'x20', with hardwood floors and rugs. It had a walk-in closet with safe, robes, shoe trees, etc. But the most amazing thing is the marble bathroom, with a huge soaking tub right next to a large octagonal window. Even the lowest floor rooms have a pretty spectacular view from this window (even if it was of the expressway, in our case). They offer a special "bath service", where a butler will come and run a bath with special oils and serve you champagne for a princely sum.

We were pleasantly surprised to see ethernet available in the room, at a modest fee (similar to STSN in the US). It was plenty fast and allowed us to upload our vacation pictures for our friends to see.

We ate in "The Greenhouse", the buffet restaurant on the main level, for several meals. All were really amazing. We had breakfast, and Sunday Brunch. It was probably the best Sunday brunch I have ever had, with standards like shrimp and asian breakfast and lunch foods, but a first for me at a brunch was a huge pile of steamed lobster. We also ate at Summer Garden, their upscale chinese restaurant. It was very good, although a little stuffy. Definitely the place to take your important business dinner guests.

The location was very good, as well, both for leisure and business. It is located right next to Marina Centre, which is the focal point for many western businesses in Singapore. Also, it has easy access to malls which link to the subway (if you are really clever, you can go through 2 malls to avoid getting rained on all the way from the subway stop :-) ). It's on the airport side of the city center, so when we left for our early flight, it only took about 15-20 minutes to get to the airport by taxi. It is not near much entertainment (Boat Quay, etc.), but it is a pretty central location for exploring much of Singapore on foot or subway.

Recommended: Yes